Classroom Tour 2019 - 2020

 

Image from here.

Welcome to a new school year!

I've been teaching since 2005.  I spent my first three years teaching second grade.  Then, I spent a year teaching third before I moved down to first grade. I continued to stay in first grade - until now! I am officially back in third grade!  (No, I am not changing the name of my blog or my teacher Instagram page.)  I am excited AND nervous about third grade!  So much has changed since I last taught third grade eleven years ago, but I know I will work hard for my students!

New grade level means new classroom!  I am grateful to finally have windows!  (My old classroom didn't have windows.)  However, I am sad to lose my HUGE closet.  I have taken so much home with me since I don't have the space for it.  After eight days of working in my classroom, it now lives up to my standards!  So without further ado, I give you the 2019 - 2020 tour of my classroom!

 

This is my bulletin board outside my classroom.  I am doing a superhero theme this year.  I thought the cityscape would be"super" cool.  My bulletin board isn't done yet - I will finish it on Tuesday! :-) 

 

I found the sign on Pinterest YEARS ago.  As far as the little person, our art teacher made that for a hockey movie my students made a few years ago.

 

Earlier this summer, I attended the Get Your Teach On conference in Dallas, Texas.  I had the BEST TIME!  On the last day, all of the presenters and volunteers stood up in front of us and sang "This Is Me," from The Greatest Showman.  I've always loved that song, but I love it even more now!  I wanted to have this quote hanging up in my room so I purchased it off Teachers Pay Teachers.  Two of my amazing volunteers hung that up on the wall for me.  (THANK YOU EMILY AND TANYA!)

 

Someone shared this on Facebook and I knew I had to have this in my classroom!

 

My husband and my father in-law made the stage and the step for me! <3 
The art teacher made the decorations.

 

  

 

The Washington Capitals sent me the banner this past spring! 
The "I am unbreakable!" quote was something I made after the Get Your Teach On conference as well!  Brittany Sinitch made us all say it after she told us her story. (She taught at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.)  Her words struck a chord with me and I knew I wanted to make a sign with that quote.

 

My cozy, comfy, book corner.  The big rugs are from Dormco.com

 

The map came from Amazon.

 

Another quote from Get Your Teach On.

 

T.J. Oshie is my favorite Caps player!

 

My growth mindset posters from TPT.

 

If you would like to see how this all fits together, check out my video tour!

You might be wondering where all of my desks are.  I went deskless several years ago.  You can read all about that here.

I am looking forward to a fantastic year in third grade!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Stacey~

 

T.J. Oshie Day

 

Image from here.

November 27, 2015:  The day I first discovered T.J. Oshie - and from that day on, he has been my FAVORITE hockey player!

My love for Oshie can be seen in my classroom, where I have a Caps corner:

 

The one poster I received at a hockey game.  The other poster was drawn by a former student of mine when he was in my class.

TJ was even a character in the movie my students made last year. 

This morning when I walked into my classroom, I realized it was the 77th day of school.  My initial reaction was, "Wow!  It's T.J. Oshie day!"  (He wears the number 77 for the Caps.)  Then a light bulb went off in my head.... "WAIT!  I am so going to make today a T.J. Oshie day in my classroom!"  I went immediately to work on some activities, and within an hour, I had my whole day planned!  Check out the video here!

Here are the visuals of what is in the video:

Initial slide

 The cities that are important to Oshie. 

 (NOTE:  I tried to put the dots as close as possible to the exact location, but I know I am definitely off - especially in Washington State! I did the best I could!)

1.  Mount Vernon, Washington - where he was born.

2.  Everett, Washington - where he was raised.

3.  Warroad, Minnesota - where he played high school hockey.

4.  Grand Forks, North Dakota - where he went to college (University of North Dakota)

5.  St. Louis, Missouri - where he played for the St. Louis Blues.

6.  Washington, DC - where he plays for the Washington Capitals! :-)

 Again, an approximate location of Sochi in Russia, where he played in the 2014 Olympics.  Due to his shootout skills, T.J. led the U.S. men's hockey team to victory over Russia.

 Next, we got into some math.  It took awhile for the students to figure out that we need to subtract so I showed them two ways to figure out how old someone is.  

 I started by taking a student's birthday and modeling.

 After that, we went back to the problem and the students helped me solve it!  (That regrouping was rough but they had the BEST time with it!)

 Next, I gave them this measurement problem!

 I showed them a yardstick and we measured our wall to find where his height would be.  Then we measured another student who thought he was as tall as Oshie.  Then they measured me.  After the measuring, they created the list above.

One of our indicators this marking period is comparing past and present.  This was the perfect opportunity to do so.  We watched a two minute clip about the Ojibwe Tribe on Discovery Ed.  Then, I shared some facts from this website.  Finally, I read a book from our library called Ojibwe (First Americans.)

 Afterwards, the students told me facts they learned about the Ojibwe Tribe.

 Then I asked them this question.

 These were their responses.

Finally, after explaining what dreamcatchers are, I showed them pictures and told them they were going to make their very own!  I took out a whole bunch of art supplies: construction paper, pipe cleaners, shredded paper, tissue paper, feathers, yarn, toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, plates, sequins, and pony beads.  I let them get to work!

Everyone was so into the project, that it was QUIET in my room the whole time!

Here are the finished projects!

Even though this was a last minute special day, the students had SO much fun! 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Mrs. Lynch~